


Relax, It's Just A Bad Dream

by Enigma_TM



Series: Musket Shots [2]
Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Absurd imaginations, Aramis 2.0, Gen, Set between s1 and s2, maybe i should, should i call this crack?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 00:17:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16397810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enigma_TM/pseuds/Enigma_TM
Summary: Athos has a terrible nightmare.





	Relax, It's Just A Bad Dream

It was quiet in the portion of the Louvre where Athos stood guard outside the Queen's Chamber. The rooms outside which he kept vigil held the most precious possession of France- her future ruler and heir to the throne. Athos was fully aware of the enormity of his responsibility. Come hell or high water, he was prepared to deal with any kind of threat that might present itself.

The door behind him suddenly opened and the Musketeer turned around to find a teary-eyed Queen standing before him.

"Your Majesty, is there a problem?" Athos asked.

"The Dauphin," the Queen sobbed. "He is not in his crib. He is missing."

"What?! How?" Athos was shocked. He could swear on his commission that he hadn't seen anyone entering or leaving from the chambers.

"I do not know," Anne replied, sounding every bit as distressed as she looked.

Athos mentally kicked himself out of his shock and switched to his crisis management mode.

"I shall order an immediate and thorough search of the Palace and the grounds. Do not fret, Majesty. We will find the Prince," the Musketeer assured.

The following moments were a blur. The scenes shifted rapidly in front of his eyes, in lightning speed, and he only had a bare awareness of his own actions which included barking orders at faceless people and racing around the Palace.

Somehow, he found himself standing in the gardens, staring ahead at the endless maze of tall, neatly trimmed hedges.

"This is a disgrace, Lieutenant! How could you allow such a thing to happen?" Louis' indignant voice sounded from behind. Turning around, the Musketeer spotted the King stomping towards him. A step behind him was the Cardinal with a sickeningly smug expression spread over his narrow face.

"I have always warned Your Majesty of the incompetence of these Musketeers," Richelieu piped up. "Perhaps this unfortunate incident might have been avoided if Your Majesty had paid more heed to my advice."

Athos opened his mouth to speak but Louis beat him to it.

"No, Musketeer! I don't want to hear any excuses! Find my son right now or you will find your head on a spike for the whole of Paris to see! Oh, but you will be quite dead to wit-"

The abrupt break in Louis' rant was accompanied by Richelieu's face turning into a picture of  _shock._

"Dear Lord!" was all the Cardinal managed.

Athos spun around to check the reason behind the collective stupefaction of the King and the First Minister.

And found himself mirroring their reaction.

Advancing towards them in tiny, wobbly steps was a toddler, apparently discovering the delights of being able to move on one's own two feet.

Which, in itself, should not have been anything out of the ordinary.

Except that said toddler had his little head rendered invisible by a large, brown hat graced with a handsome feather.

And...

Athos knew precious little about babies but the one thing he was damn sure of was that their nappies are never a deep shade of blue. And the cloth should most certainly  _not_  resemble the sash  _Aramis_ wears around his waist.

And of course, how could one miss the twin pistols at his sides, tucked inside the misplaced piece of cloth?

Athos stood transfixed.

Surely, this... _this_  wasn't happening, was it?

The bizarre little thing stopped right before him. As the child raised his head to regard the towering figure in front of him, the obnoxiously large headcover slipped backwards to reveal the mischievous, deep brown eyes in addition to the dark, tousled locks peeping out from beneath the hat.

The Musketeer's heart beat quickened as a roguish, lopsided grin took shape on the tiny face.

_"Hola, tío Athos!"_

("Hello, Uncle Athos!")

The next thing Athos was aware of was hands grabbing him from behind. He thrashed against the powerful grips, but his struggles were in vain. Panic soon gave away to terror as the lovely gardens faded from his view and smooth, gloomy stone walls surrounded him.

His back hit the hard stone floor just as a scream broke free from him.

"NO! STOP!"

And those were just the things to bring him back to the world of the living.

It took the Musketeer several long moments to get his erratic breathing under control. And several more to register that the walls surrounding him were not of a dungeon but his own room at the Garrison. From his current position on the floor, he observed a sliver of light filtering through the tear on his blind. The voices of some of the early risers could be heard from the courtyard.

A throb behind his temples was steadily gaining on its intensity. Athos groaned and shut his eyes as his fingers massaged over the skin.

"I need another drink," he muttered sourly.

**Author's Note:**

> A special thanks to my beta, Venea Taur, for not only her beta reading but also for encouraging me to post this little fic.
> 
> This one was inspired by a fanart by sly-of-castelmore that I came across on Tumblr.


End file.
